How to check roots, 5g bucket.

Question: How do I check the roots of a plant in a 5g bucket? Just dig it up?

I have a plant that just isn't doing well and seems to not be taking up much water compared to the other two plants I have. It has a small amount of new growth on it but hasn't gotten much taller in the last week. It's about 12". My other two plants are doing good with all manner of new growth.

I'm using a 2-1 per/verm medium in 5g buckets (about 12qt. total medium per bucket). I just transplanted into them on the 30th from party cups. My last watering was on the 3rd with 1tsp. of Humboldt Oneness per gallon (per directions).

I can post a pic tomorrow, it's lights out right now and the most recent pic I have is over a week old.

whats your light cycle? dont dig it out, try flushing it.

dont dig it up, you can tell if the roots are good by how well the plant grows.

Light cycle is 16/8.

The plant's not doing well at all, which is why I think there's something up with its roots. I saw Uncle Ben ask someone else with similar sized pots how their root system looked, so I thought there might be a way to visually inspect them. I got the three plants as clones about two weeks ago and they were apparently underfed. The watering on the 3rd was their first watering with more than 1/4 strength nutes and the other two took off.

just how much bigger are the other 2? u didnt really specify the size.

It's not that they're bigger so much as just flourishing, but they're growing ~1/2" a day where the SB hasn't grown at all. The spill trays for the other two are empty and the SB's is barely down at all, all buckets feel about the same weight. I could chalk it up to evaporation but it wouldn't make sense for two to be dry and one to still be almost full, especially given the condition of the plants.

Here are some pics from the transplant on the 30th and then this morning. First is the WW, then the BD, then the SB. The burn on the SB is a light burn.

Would it be possible to get any insight on why this one plant is doing so poorly?

what kind of soil is that?

Looks to me to be over watering. Just a guess. Let it dry out and give it a good watering and see how that works.

~GG420

Thanks for the replies. I've done research to point of going in circles and just don't have the experience to know what I'm looking at.

Slk, it's a soilless mixture of 2-1 per/verm, about 12qt. total in each bucket.

Dub, it doesn't really seem to use water compared to the two (seemingly) healthy plants which is why I think there may be a problem with the roots. I watered the other two plants today (it's been five days) and flushed the sickly plant with straight room temp (75f) water.

Looks like this is the wrong place to get help.

MrBlanco said:

Thanks for the replies. I've done research to point of going in circles and just don't have the experience to know what I'm looking at.

Slk, it's a soilless mixture of 2-1 per/verm, about 12qt. total in each bucket.

Dub, it doesn't really seem to use water compared to the two (seemingly) healthy plants which is why I think there may be a problem with the roots. I watered the other two plants today (it's been five days) and flushed the sickly plant with straight room temp (75f) water.

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You need to let it dry fully out, quit flushing it. If your not using RO water pH'd correctly you are asking for pythium, not to mention your purposely over watering when you flush. Let it dry completely and water with Hygrozyme and Vegan Compost Blend from GH or Root Juice... this is the organic route. Not sure what your using for nutes or if you even have a full lineup of nutes. Your not giving us much to go on which is why there are not very many responses.

The marijuana plant prefers a dry environment and the roots need oxygen to develop.

Did you use any tranplant enhancing nutes like thrive alive B1? Did you sacrify (purposely damage) the root ball to encourage new root growth when transplanting?

~GG420

MrBlanco said:

Looks like this is the wrong place to get help.

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Pretty sure your over watering and I gave you help earlier. Not all plants are on the same feeding schedule. Growing pot is not like baking a cake.

~GG420

MrBlanco said:

Thanks for the replies. I've done research to point of going in circles and just don't have the experience to know what I'm looking at.

Slk, it's a soilless mixture of 2-1 per/verm, about 12qt. total in each bucket.

Dub, it doesn't really seem to use water compared to the two (seemingly) healthy plants which is why I think there may be a problem with the roots. I watered the other two plants today (it's been five days) and flushed the sickly plant with straight room temp (75f) water.

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This looks like fairly normal transplant discomfort, combined with too big of a pot and too much water. Although the plants are the same, they may grow differently, as well as differences in watering, that seem un-noticeable to you, may be noticeable to the plant. I think the plant looks OK. It may be spending some time developing roots in it's new and larger pot, before it returns to growth. I would stick with the advice you've already got. Let it dry out some, and the water somewhat sparingly.
Of course there might be something more serious going on, but I wouldn't start by assuming that. Give it some time.

Thank you, highaltitude.

I use Humboldt Nutrients Oneness, as stated in original post. 5-9-4. http://www.humboldtnutrients.com/oneness.html Mixed per directions and diluted as needed. Water used is either tap water left to sit for 48 hours or distilled. pH measured with General Hydroponics kit. Foliar spray once a week before lights come on.

I use Thrive Alive B1 green label. 1-1-1. Mixed and used per directions.

Did not sacrifice rootball on any of the three during transplant, probably a rookie mistake since this is my first grow but the other two are doing great.

I water once every 5-6 days until there is clear drainage. I have flushed it once. It was watered yesterday with B1 and 3/4 strength nutes. Water pH 6. Medium was dry four inches down and pot was significantly lighter than after watering. Other advice given was that it's underwatered.

It's been almost two weeks since transplant. Little change positive or negative.


Dub, I don't know what else you need to know, so it might help if you asked some guiding questions.

are you letting your soil dry well before adding more water? Dub suggested you are overwatering, flushing isnt going to help if you have root rot from not letting them dry up first.

sskitze said:

are you letting your soil dry well before adding more water? Dub suggested you are overwatering, flushing isnt going to help if you have root rot from not letting them dry up first.

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He said the top 4" were dry... but the spill was still partially full... Not sure he has root rot, but a constantly damp root mass is definitely inviting to rot. I'm thinking he has a shy root ball or his roots are developing straight down and not so much out.

I'm thinking take the spill tray off the bucket or pour it out. Don't let that one sit with standing water. What are you pH'ing your water at? 5.8-6.8 would do good in vermiculite/perlite mix.

Good to see that your using decent nutes it paints a clearer picture. The plant is green and not yellow, purple, or brown so that is a big plus. When you transplanted how dense was the root ball? Is the base of the root ball below the 4" of dry medium? If it is your plant is growing roots to the bottom of the bucket directly instead of growing out horizontally in search of water as the root ball will simply wick the water directly from your spill. A cannabis plant just needs a good watering every once in a while in a decent soil or soil-less medium until they are in full flower. Just water until you see initial runnoff and be sure to water evenly around the plant. Your plant can develop unhealthy root structures easier in a large pot with over watering. If the other plants are doing well drinking that amount of water that is fine.

As suggested earlier, get a Root Juice equivalent or Hygrozyme and Vegan Compost Blend to stimulate root action and supplement a regular feeding with it. Remember to feed sparingly, so feed, water, water, feed, water, water. It is ok to give it Hygrozyme when giving it just water and with regular feedings or root busting feedings.

Does this seem like the ticket to anyone else?

~GG420

MrBlanco said:

I use Humboldt Nutrients Oneness, as stated in original post. 5-9-4. http://www.humboldtnutrients.com/oneness.html Mixed per directions and diluted as needed. Water used is either tap water left to sit for 48 hours or distilled. pH measured with General Hydroponics kit. Foliar spray once a week before lights come on.

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I see your using a foliar spray, if you want root development you need to stop feeding the leaves directly. Use RO water over distilled and distilled over tap that has sat for any number of hours. When tap water evaporates it gets rid of the chlorine but if you have overly hard or overly soft water it concentrates the minerals or mineral salts.

MrBlanco said:

I use Thrive Alive B1 green label. 1-1-1. Mixed and used per directions.

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Strong stuff, I get great results using 1/2 strength. My plants love the stuff. If your using this don't worry much about Hygrozyme, but a root juice would do you some good.

MrBlanco said:

I water once every 5-6 days until there is clear drainage. I have flushed it once. It was watered yesterday with B1 and 3/4 strength nutes. Water pH 6. Medium was dry four inches down and pot was significantly lighter than after watering. Other advice given was that it's underwatered.

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Can you clarify the underlined stuff. Did you flush it yesterday or did you feed it? A flush is no nutes at all just incase your talking one and the same.

Water when they are dry to the spill. Here is a good way to judge, fill an empty bucket with dry medium and weigh it, then weigh your full pot fully watered, record the numbers and use them as a guide for watering. When your close to the low water or feed.

MrBlanco said:

Dub, I don't know what else you need to know, so it might help if you asked some guiding questions.

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Sounded like nearly everything I needed to know, thank you.

~GG420

Also just read this on your nutes site:

Oneness and pH buffering When oneness is initially added to water it displays a very low pH. However, If oneness is left in solution for 24hrs the solution will buffer itself up to a more desirable pH range, between 5.5 and 7.0. There is no need to add "pH Up" solutions with Oneness. Simply give oneness a day to buffer the solution into the ideal range.

Maybe you should mix your base nutes a day or more in advance before feeding.

~GG420

Thank you, very much.

I flushed it on the 8th and the medium was that dry by the 11th. I made sure that it drained until there was maybe a tsp of water in the catch tray, on the 8th. That is only three days but the look of the plant is same as it was on the 6th and the 10th. The reason for flushing was because the pH of the runoff was 7+ (green on the GH test kit). When I watered it yesterday I gave it 64oz. total mixed approximately 1/4 B1, 1/4 water, 1/2 nutes. Looks like there's a few oz. of water left in the catch tray right now, so there wasn't a tremendous amount of runoff. Oh, and I do let the nutes sit for a day before checking the pH. The guy at the grow store made it a point to tell me that.